Black Gangs Vented Hatred For Whites In Downtown Attacks

'I Hate You F---ing White People,' Woman Shouts At Victim

Black gangs roaming downtown Denver often vented their hatred for white victims before assaulting and robbing them during a four-month crime wave, according to interviews and court records obtained by 7NEWS.

"I hate you f---ing white people," said a black woman in a large group of black men, according to the victim who was beaten up as he and three buddies left a LoDo bar after midnight on Aug. 30.

"F---- you, white boys," the woman added, according to the 25-year-old Westminster victim, who spoke to 7NEWS Friday.

"Why do you hate white people?" the man recalled asking. "That's when I got hit. They beat the crap out of me," he added, saying that 15 to 20 men beat him to the ground.

"They just swarmed you," said the man who curled up on the ground to shield his face. "You basically just had to protect yourself and hope they didn't kill you."

The victim, who suffered bruised ribs and a cut head, said he was protected by a padded motorcycle jacket. He asked that his name be withheld for his safety.

One unidentified suspect told police "that the members of his gang earn status in the gang by beating up 'white dudes,'" according to court records. He added that the gangs targeted "drunk white guys," exiting bars and nightclubs in the entertainment district.

The suspects allegedly bragged about knocking out white victims with one punch to the head. Victims lying on the ground were "stomped" and even tossed through glass windows.

In the more than two dozen attacks, victims' injuries included a skull fracture as well as broken noses and eye sockets when they were blindsided by punches that often knocked them unconscious. One man was so savagely attacked that he was hospitalized in a coma for a while, police said.

Several of the 35 young male and female suspects arrested by police recently said the gangs often targeted lone white and Hispanic men because they didn't "fight back" and they had money, iPods and other valuable gadgets that attackers coveted.

Another goal: to drive whites away from their downtown turf, including a hip-hop nightclub, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The gangs "own that area," one suspect told police.

7NEWS exposed the crime spree in early September when a law enforcement source said the police department was keeping the public in the dark about a series of downtown attacks. The source added that a special FBI task force had been called in to help identify the assailants.

When 7NEWS made a public records request Sept. 3 for crime reports in the area, a police spokesman confirmed the department was investigating a "pattern of assaults and robberies in central Denver" that began in July.

Police spokesman Sonny Jackson denied that police delayed warning the public for seven weeks to avoid frightening visitors to the popular and lucrative downtown entertainment district.

He said police had to confirm "a pattern of behavior" before going public.

But police reports say the gang attack pattern was identified during the summer as the department deployed uncover teams and used surveillance cameras to identify the assailants.

"During the summer months of 2009, a pattern of criminal conduct was identified which included multiple suspects identifying a solo Caucasian or Hispanic male and completing a blitz attack against this party," an officer wrote in an arrest affidavit for a Sept. 4 robbery on the 16th Street Mall.

"Part of the MO involved the group of suspects, usually African American males, sending a party, possibly an African American female, to identify the victim," the officer wrote. "This is done by (the woman) talking with or standing with the victim. A suspect, generally male, from the group will step forward and hit the victim hard, knocking him down. Other members of the group will then emerge and begin participating in beating the victim."

The Westminster beating victim said if police had warned the public earlier, he and others could have better protected themselves

"I'm kind of upset that (police) didn't make it public," said the Westminster beating victim. "I would have been more vigilant. It would have made people a lot more on guard."

But, he added that, "I'm very pleased that they responded the way they did." Within minutes of his 911 cell phone call, uncover officers flooded the scene. He recalled listening to police radios crackling with reports of two suspects being arrested that night.

"I was like, 'Wow, finally they did something,'" the man recalled.

Prosecutors have charged two men and a woman in his attack.

As police pursued the massive investigation involving 35 suspects and dozens of victims, investigators asked the young blacks why they targeted whites.

Ford, who was the last suspect arrested in a major police sweep in the past two weeks, allegedly told investigators earlier that he was upset how the robbery spoils were divvied up among members of the Rolling 60s Crips gang and the Black Gangster Disciples gang, according to the arrest affidavits.

Ford, who was arrested Thursday, allegedly griped about "other people getting bigger stuff than me that I would really like to have in my life," according to the records.

At times, older men would chastise young gang members, saying, "Y'all make it seem like a big deal for y'all to be knocking out white people," suspect Denita Mayfield told police. "They all brag about beating up white people."

But the attackers used more than their fists. "The series of crimes has also involved the use of a gun and knife," a police report said.

One male victim recalled a black woman approaching him on the street and saying something he couldn't hear.

"As he was attempting to clarify what had been said to him, a black male came up and stated, 'What the f--- did you say to my girl?'" a detective wrote in an arrest affidavit.

Instantly, the victim was punched.

As he was pounded with blows, the victim said he heard a woman voice shouting, "Get that white boy!" according to an arrest affidavit.

He said they were especially possessive of the Bash nightclub at 19th and Blake streets, saying their purpose was to "keep white people from going to 'The Bash' and to 'let people know not to come downtown without their friends for protection.'"

"I seen him pick the little white boy up and throw him through the glass," Ford told police, according to court records. Police obtained security camera video showing the victim fly through the window.

The Westminster man said after he was attacked, he avoided downtown for a while.

Now he's returned to his favorite LoDo tavern, but he added: "I'm a lot, lot more cautious. It makes me look over my shoulder a lot more."